Elimination Means Brazil Returns to Normal

During the World Cup, everything in Brazil grinds to a halt. Even, it seems, the Brazilian stock exchange. Trading there hit its 2010 low on June 28, as Brazil faced Chile, with the previous lows on June 15 and June 25 during two of the team’s first-round matches. On June 15, for instance, equity trading fell to roughly $2.3 billion, 40 percent less than the previous year’s average. But since Brazil was eliminated from the tournament by the Netherlands yesterday, things should be back to business as usual. “Now investors are going to return and volumes should go back to normal,” said a Brazilian analyst. “It was weird that the market was left open even when the banks were closed.”